Netflix's new original movie 'The Land of Steady Habits' is a compelling portrait of mid-life crisis

Netflix‘s new original film, “The Land of Steady Habits,” has earned positive reviews from film critics.

The film stars Ben Mendelsohn as a Connecticut father who, in the throes of a mid-life crisis, retires from his job in finance and leaves his wife.

Netflix’s new original movie, “The Land of Steady Habits,” earned positive reviews from film critics ahead of its premiere on the service Friday.

The film stars Ben Mendelsohn (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”) as Anders Hill, a Connecticut father who, in the throes of a mid-life crisis, retires from his job in finance and leaves his wife.

“The Land of Steady Habits” is based on a 2014 novel of the same name by Ted Thompson.

Here’s how Netflix described the film in a release:

“Into his mid fifties and newly retired, his grown son’s college tuitions paid in full, Anders decides he’s had enough of steady habits: he leaves his wife (Edie Falco), buys a condo, and waits for freedom to transform him. Stripped of the comforts of his previous identity, Anders embarks on a clumsy, and heartbreaking journey to reconcile his past with his present.”

The film was written and directed by Nicole Holofcener, who also wrote the screenplay for the acclaimed upcoming movie “Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” which stars Melissa McCarthy in a true story of a biographer who sold forged letters from famous authors. Holofcener’s last directorial effort was the 2013 romantic comedy “Enough Said,” which starred Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini.

“The Land of Steady Habits” currently has an 84% “fresh” rating on the reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, and most critics had praise for Holofcener’s directing and script.

“Laying it all out with a piercing authenticity, Holofcener makes us hope that the wait till her next feature is not quite so long,” Kenneth Turan wrote in a review for the Los Angeles Times.

“No detail ever seems to go unnoticed in Holofcener’s world, and viewers could spend the entire running time simply admiring her powers of surveillance,” Elizabeth Weitzman wrote in a review for The Wrap.

Watch a trailer for the film below, and find the feature film on Netflix: